One in five Year 11 boys in Welsh survey report gambling

More than one in five Year 11 boys who answered a Welsh school survey reported spending their own money on gambling in the previous seven days. The 21.4% figure comes from the 2025 School Health Research Network survey, with findings released by Public Health Wales on Thursday 22 October. It concerns boys aged 15 and 16, rather than all secondary pupils.

The increase is concentrated among older boys

Among Year 11 boys, the rate rose from 18.2% in 2023 to 21.4% in 2025, an increase of 3.2 percentage points. The equivalent figure for Year 11 girls was 6.5% in 2025, compared with 6.9% in 2023. Across the pupils who answered the gambling question in Years 7 to 11, the overall rate was 11.5%, compared with 11.4% in 2023. The rise among older boys should not be read as a similar increase across every group.

What the question measured

The question covered a broad range of activities, including lotteries, gambling machines, private bets, card games for money and gambling websites or apps. It asked about money spent by the pupil, not simply seeing gambling advertising. It was asked of a subsample, so the figures are not responses from every child in the wider survey. The published table records 963 positive responses among 4,500 Year 11 boys with valid responses in 2025. The gambling indicator has no local-authority breakdown. These are self-reported activities during a seven-day period before the survey. They do not establish that a respondent has an addiction, or explain what caused the change.

School prevention work

Public Health Wales says its Behind the Screen resources provide teachers with guidance and classroom activities on gaming and gambling harms. It is working with partners on a national prevention programme. The dashboard is produced with the School Health Research Network at Cardiff University, funded by the Welsh Government. It allows readers to explore other aspects of pupils’ health and wellbeing alongside gambling.